Belt loop folder



Feb. 18, 1964 F. P. GRECO 3,121,412

BELT LOOP FOLDER Filed March 24. 1961 2 SheetsSheet 1 INVENTOR FRANK R 52500 22 ATTORNEYS Feb. 18, 1964 F. P. GRECO 3,121,412

BELT LOOP FOLDER Filed March 24, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTO RN EY'S United States Patent 3,121,412 BELT L001 FOLDER Frank P. Green, Hashrouelr Heights, N.J.,. assignor, by mesne assignments, to Singer Company of Canada Ltd, Montreal, Quebec, Jarred-a, a corporation of Quebec Filed Mar. 24, 1961, Ser. No. 98,109 1 tClaim. (Cl. 112--14t)) This invention relates to an improvement in folders for belt loops made on blindstitch sewing machines.

In the use of such folders a flat strip of fabric is fed into the inlet or large end of the folding device which faces the operator and the edges are curled inwardly toward each other. This is accomplished as the strip moves through the folder from the inlet end to the outlet end which is positioned closely adjacent to the plane of travel of the needle. Between the two curled edges formed by the folder on the loop strip is the central part of the strip which is pressed upwardly by a cam-like node forming rib which oscillates in synchronism with the needle. This rib raises a node in the middle of the loop between the curled edges and presents it to the needle which is designed to pass through the two inwardly turned edges and the node to draw the turned edges together when the stitch is formed by the sewing machine. With such a sewing operation it is necessary to present the node of the belt loop to the needle very precisely and accurately so that the needles does not pass through from the back of the loop to the front where the stitch will show on the finished loop. The needle must pass only partially through the fabric. It must never pierce the front surface of the loop.

An object of the present invention is to construct the narrow or outlet end of the folder so that the folder will cooperate with the oscillating rib of the sewing machine to accurately present the node of the loop strip to the needle so that the stitch or thread will not appear on the front of the loop and yet the thread will obtain a proper purchase in the fabric of the node so that the outer curled edges of the loop can be drawn together and down on the flattened portion of the loop.

Another object of the inveniton is to produce a folder which is simple in construction, cheap to produce and can be readily secured to the bed of the sewing machine with ordinary screws.

Another object of the inveniton is to produce a folder which has a flerible portion cooperating with the oscillating node'forming rib so that in case of a slight maladjustment the flexible or springy portion of the folder will yield without injury either to the ribor to the folder.

Another object of the inveniton is to produce a folder wherein the node controlling portion at the outlet end of the folder is movable in relation to the bottom and side walls of the folder.

With the above and other objects which will become apparent, the invention will be hereinafter more particularly described as shown in one embodiment illustrated in the drawings, reference to which is hereby made:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the folder located on the bed of a blindstitch sewing machine;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the folder showing two screws for securing the same to the bed of the sewing machine;

FIG. 3 is a bottom plan view of the folder;

FIG. 4 is a section through 44 of FIG. 3 and showing the position of the sewing machine needle and the oscillating rib of the sewing machine;

FIG. 5 is a section similar to FIG. 4 but showing fabric in the folder and also showing the relationship of the oscillating rib and needle when the latter has begun to pierce the fabric;

FIG. 6 is a front view of the folder looking from the 3,121,412 Patented F eb. 1-8, 1964 rear of the sewing machine toward the narrow or outlet end of the folder. This view also shows the node forming rib which is designed to cooperate with the folder.

FIG. 7 is a section through 77 of 'FIG. 5; and

FIG. 8 is a cross section through the finished belt loop.

In the illustrated embodiment of the invention and particularly FIG. 1, certain parts of a blindstitch sewing machine are illustrated only to show the relationship between these p-arts of the sewing machine and the folder when the latter is in place. The present invention has to do only with the folder and does not reside in the sewing machine per se. The bed of the sewing machine is shown at 1, the oscillating needle holder at 2 and the needle at 3, the node forming rib which is designed to cooperate with the folder to form the node of the belt loop strip is shown at 5. It is mounted on shaft 6 which oscillates back and forth as indicated by the arrow 7. The needle 3 also swings back and forth in an arc and is synchronized with the rib 5 as is well known in the art.

At 10 and 11 are shown vibrating cutting knives to trim the strip of fabric F to the proper width. A suitable feed mechanism, not shown, feeds the fabric through the holder and into the path of the needle, as is also well known in the art.

At 15 is shown a folder embodying the invention. It can be conveniently mounted on the base of the sewing machine, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. Folder 15 consists of a bottom portion Ztt which has a pair of sidewardly extending slotted arms 21 for securing the folder to the base of the sewing machine. Slots .22 in the arms 21 are designed to receive headed screws which enable the folder to be secured to the sewing machine bed in proper relationship to the node forming rib 5 and the other elements of the sewing machine. The base member 20 also has a pair of cupper fingers at the narrow or outlet end of the folder shown at 28 and 29 in FIGS. 3, 6 and 7. Integrally mounted on the base member 20 is a funnehshaped member 30; the wider end of which is the inlet end of the folder designed to face the operator and to receive the advancing strip of material. The edges of this member 30 are turned inwardly toward each other and also slightly downwardly as seen in FIG. 1. These edges turn more sharply downwardly as they approach the narrower end of the folder 15, as can be seen at 3 2 and 33 in FIG. 7. This member 30' serves to curl the edges of the advancing strip inwardly toward each other until the strip has the shape shown in FIG. 7.. This folding inwardly of the edges of the strip to form two tubelike membersis brought about by the cooperation of the downwardly turned edges 32 and 33 of member 30 and the upward looking fingers 28 and 29 of the lower plate or member 2A).

The folder includes a third member 49 which overlies member 30 and rather closely follows'the shape and form of the member 30. Element 40 terminates at the outlet end of the folder in a narrow spring finger 41 which is disposed between the. intu-rned edges 32 and 330i the member 30 (see FIG. 7).

The fingers 28 and 29 of the member 2! are spaced apart near the outlet end of the folder so as to leave a gap therebetween to permit the rib 5 to rise between the fingers 28 and 29 to cooperate with the spring member 41 in positioning the node of the belt loop strip as will be more particularly explained hereafter.

Oscillating rib 5 is designed to raise the node of the fabric into contact with the underside of the spring finger 41, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 7. Needle 3 moves in an arc the plane of which is at right angles to the path of travel of the loop strip and immediately to the rear of the outlet end of the folder. The rib 5 raises the node of the fabric into engagement with the spring finger 4 1 and then the needle pierces the node and the rib 5 withdraws to permit completion of the stitching. After the needle is withdrawn from the fabric the strip advances. All of this is well known in the art of blindstitch sewing machines and is not part of the present invention and, therefore, will not be described in detail but only referred to to indicate how the spring finger 41 of the folder cooperates with the node forming rib 5 of the sewing machine.

When the stitch is tightened and completed, the curled tube-like edges of the loop are drawn together and down on the back flat face of the loop, as shown in FIG. 8, to complete the loop construction. As is known, these loops are made in long lengths and then cut to the desired short lengths for use on garments.

In operation the folder is mounted in the same general location that prior art folders have been mounted, that is, on the bed of the sewing machine so that the outlet end of the folder is very close to the plane of the needle. Transverse adjustment of the folder can be readily made because of the slotted construction of the supporting members 21. When the folder is lined up with the oscillating rib 5, the rib will move upwardly and cooperate with the spring finger 41 of the folder to hold the node of the fabric in proper position to receive the point of the needle so that the thread will not appear on the front face of the belt loop. When the proper adjustment of the folder has been made in relation to the oscillating rib 5 and the plane of the needle, the strip of fabric may be fed into the inlet end of the folder which faces the operator. The feeding mechanism of the sewing machine will advance the fabric intermittently in the usual way. The cooperation between the rib 5 and the spring finger 41 prevents the node from humping up and thus permitting the thread to pass through the fabric to the front face of the loop. In prior art devices of this character, the equivalent of the finger 41 and the turned-over edges 32 and '33 were rigidly fastened together so that they could not move relative to each other. In some instances the folder as a whole could be moved relative to the base of the sewing machine and, therefore, relative to the rib, but here it will be noted that the finger 41 can move relative to the members 32 and 33 which permits a nice adjustment of the node by the rib 5 and avoids humping up of the node as the strip escapes from the folder and just as the needle penetrates it. It should be kept in mind that at the moment the needle penetrates the node of the fabric, the latter has passed from the outlet end of the folder. This is true in this device and in all prior art folders. Actually, the fabric is free on the top side of the node as the needle begins to penetrate so that it may hump up due to the inward pressure of the tube-like side edges if it is not adjusted and kept in place by the flexible finger 41 which serves in cooperation with the rib 5 to adjust the fabric so that the node and the two outer tube-like edge members are in equilibrium as the fabric leaves the narrow end of the folder. If this is not true and if the two tube-like portions are under stress, the objectionable humping up referred to before takes place.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is;

In a belt loop sewing machine folder for use with a blindstitch sewing machine of the type in which a nodeforming rib is movable from a lower to an upper position and is adapted to lift fabric being sewn into a raised ridge when moved from the lower to the upper position, said folder having a folding member adapted to receive a flat strip of fabric at an entrance end and to curl the edges of the strip up and over toward the center of the strip as the strip progresses toward an exit end of the folding member, thereby producing in the strip adjacent the exit end a scroll-shaped cross section, said folding member comprising a base member, side walls upstanding from the base member and converging toward the exit end of the folding member, opposed upper edges on the side walls turned inwardly toward each other and downwardly toward the base member, said upper edges defining a central gap between them into which the nodeforming rib may rise in moving from the lower to the upper position, the improvement comprising cupped fingers sloping upward from the base toward the exit end in close proximity to the upper edges at the exit end, said cupped fingers adapted in the neighborhood of the exit end to support the fabric from below and confine said fabric in the gaps between the cupper fingers and the upper edges, said cupped fingers defining between them a slot alined with and located below the central gap, said slot being adapted to afford passage therethrough of the node-forming rib as said rib rises from the lower to the upper position; a spring finger in the form of a cantiliver spring located in the central gap, the base of said spring finger being attached to the side walls and the free end of said spring finger being in the central gap in the neighborhood of the exit end, said free end of the spring finger being concave as viewed from the position of the fabric below, the free end being movable in a vertical plane within the central gap from a lower position at the level of the cupped fingers to an upper position above said level, said spring finger being resiliently biased toward the lower position and movable from the lower position to the upper position under the influence of pressure from portions of the fabric strip raised by the nodeforming rib into the raised ridge, said spring finger being adapted to press the fabric onto the node-forming rib as said rib rises, thereby preventing the fabric from slipping sideways relative to the node-forming rib during the upward motion thereof and said spring finger being adapted to flatten the raised ridge when the node-forming rib is withdrawn.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 973,530 McKane Oct. 25, 1910 1,489,217 Jones Apr. 1, 1924 2,189,433 'Mueller Feb. 6, 1940 2,585,307 Galkin Feb. 12, 1952 2,646,759 Galkin July 28, 1953 2,725,836 Gillum et a1 Dec. 6, 1955 2,881,725 Sigoda Apr. 14, 19,59 

